We arrive at the final Mishnah in Tractate Sanhedrin - chapter 11, Mishnah 6. This Mishnah completes the list of transgressions punishable by strangulation, after which the Mishnah will address two loose ends remaining from the first Mishnah in the chapter.
The Fifth Transgression: Prophesying in the Name of Idolatry:
The core law is explicitly stated in the Torah, black on white. It says in Devarim 18:20: "But the prophet who shall speak in the name of other gods - that prophet shall die." Since the type of death penalty is not specified, the default is strangulation, and there is no novelty here.
The novelty of the Mishnah is in the continuation: "Ve'omer kach amrah avodah zarah, afilu kiven et hahalachah letamei et hatamei uletaher et hatahor" - and says, "Thus said the idol," even if he stated the halachah correctly to declare impure that which is impure and pure that which is pure. There is no practical difference if the content of his words is factually correct. Even if he said: "Last night the star spoke to me and commanded to be more stringent in matters of kashrut," it makes no difference. The very fact that he delivered a message in the name of an idol, a star, or a false god, as if they spoke to him - is in itself a transgression that has no atonement, and its punishment is death. Of course, as in all capital cases, witnesses and forewarning are required: he must be warned not to say this, and he does it anyway.
The Sixth Transgression: One Who Has Relations with a Married Woman:
This is a simple case of adultery - one who has relations with a married woman, and his punishment is strangulation. With this, the list of the six transgressions punishable by strangulation concludes.
A Betrothed Maiden - From When Is the Punishment Strangulation?
The Mishnah does not end there, but turns to another topic that we discussed previously: the law of a betrothed maiden. A young girl, under the age of twelve and a half, who is still living in her father's house and is a virgin - if she committed adultery, her punishment is not strangulation as usual, but this is a special case whose punishment is stoning, both for her and for the one who had relations with her. The Mishnah comes to define the transition point: from when does the maiden leave the category of liability for stoning and enter the category of the regular law of strangulation?
To this, the Mishnah replies: "Keivan shenichnesah lirshut haba'al lenisuin" - once she has entered the husband's domain for marriage. Usually, we translate 'erusin' as betrothal - the receiving of the ring, and 'nisuin' as actual entry into the husband's house. However here, since the verse obligating stoning for a maiden speaks of her being in "her father's house," it is sufficient that she has left her father's domain, even if she has not yet reached her husband's house.
For example: Eliezer takes Rivka to bring her to Yitzchak. Let us assume that Eliezer acted as Yitzchak's emissary, and Rivka received the ring and became betrothed to him. From the moment she set out on the journey with Eliezer and left her father's house - even though she is not actually married, and even though she has never met her husband - if she commits adultery now, her punishment is no longer stoning but strangulation.
As the language of the Mishnah states: "Af al pi shelo niv'alah, haba aleha harei zeh bechanek" - even though she has not had marital relations, one who has relations with her is punished by strangulation. One who has relations with her after she has left her father's house is liable only for strangulation, and not stoning.
Two Loose Ends: Conspiring Witnesses of a Kohen's Daughter and Her Paramour:
With this, the six transgressions are completed, but we must remember that the first Mishnah in the chapter also listed "the false witnesses of a bas kohen and her paramour." The primary focus of these is the law of false witnesses, but in practice, two separate novel rulings are encapsulated here.
The First Novel Ruling - The Paramour of a Bas Kohen:
As a rule, whatever punishment the woman receives is the punishment the man receives, and vice versa - assuming that both consented to the act and there is no coercion. Usually, this will be strangulation, and in certain cases a different punishment, such as a betrothed young woman whose punishment is stoning for both of them.
An exception to this rule is a bas kohen. A married bas kohen who committed adultery has a special law, and we have already seen this in the past: she is among those who are burned. The verse states: "And the daughter of any kohen, if she profanes herself by committing adultery, she profanes her father; she shall be burned in fire" - a bas kohen who profanes herself through adultery profanes and degrades her father as well, and her punishment is burning.
The Gemara expounds from the word "she" in the verse "she profanes her father": specifically she, the bas kohen, is judged with burning, but not her paramour - the one who cohabits with her is judged with the standard punishment of strangulation. This is therefore the first novel ruling in our Mishnah: the paramour of a bas kohen is punished with strangulation, as opposed to her own punishment of burning.
The Second Novel Ruling - False Witnesses (Edim Zomemim):
This topic will be the subject of the next Mishnah, in Tractate Makkos, and we will state it here briefly: when witnesses plot and testify to something that is untrue, and other witnesses come and testify that the first pair of witnesses lied, since they were not at that time and in that place at all and could not have seen the act - the first pair are called 'edim zomemim' (false plotting witnesses). Under certain conditions, which we will discuss in the next chapter with God's help, the result is that the false witnesses receive the punishment they sought to cause the accused against whom they testified.
The verse states: "And you shall do to him as he plotted to do to his brother" - do to them as they plotted to do to their brother. And why does it say "to his brother"? The Sages expound: "to his brother" and not to his sister. In the case before us, there are two defendants with different punishments: she, the bas kohen, with burning, and he, her paramour, with strangulation. What, then, will the false witnesses receive? The exposition teaches that their law is like the law of the man and not like the law of the woman, as it is stated "to his brother" and not to his sister. We find that false witnesses who testified falsely about a bas kohen and her paramour are judged with strangulation and not burning.
And this is the language of the Mishnah: "Vezomemei bas kohen uvoalah" - and the false witnesses of a bas kohen and her paramour - they too are included among those strangled, as the first Mishnah in the chapter opened: "And these are the ones who are strangled." And the reason is: "Shekol hazomemin makdimin le'osah misah" - that all false witnesses are subject to the same death penalty - false witnesses are judged with the same death penalty that they sought to bring upon the defendant, "chutz mizomemei bas kohen uvoalah" - except for the false witnesses of a bas kohen and her paramour - since in this scenario they are not judged with the burning of the bas kohen, but rather with the strangulation of her paramour.
In Summary: In this Mishnah, the six transgressions whose punishment is strangulation have been completed - one who prophesies in the name of an idol, even if he directed the halachah to the truth, and one who cohabits with a married woman. We learned that a betrothed young woman is excluded from the category of stoning to the category of strangulation from the time she enters the husband's domain, even if she has not yet cohabited, since the verse made the law of stoning dependent on her being in her father's house. We also noted the two novel rulings regarding the law of a bas kohen: her paramour is judged with strangulation and not burning, and false witnesses who testified against them are judged with strangulation, as it is stated "to his brother" and not to his sister.
And with this, thank God, Tractate Sanhedrin is concluded - mazal tov to everyone. The next tractate, with God's help, is Tractate Makkos.